A cycle at its close
by JupiterGodess
Summary: The story of Frank's arrival at Camp Jupiter.


**A cycle at its close**

Finally.

After seemingly endless days of travelling south, Frank saw the entrance to camp. Not that it looked like an entrance, though. There was a motorway cutting through a hill. And in the middle, dividing the two directions of the road, was a doorway. It looked like a maintenance tunnel, and Frank himself might have thought of it as such, if he hadn't told by Lupa what really hid behind it. Lupa… somehow Frank thought with sadness and the faint feeling of loss of the wolf goddess, her pack and the Wolf House. During the days that Lupa trained him he had felt that he belonged somewhere for the first time. For the first time he did not think of his body as too bulky or too big. No. It was made for battling. It finally had gained a meaning.

The Canadian boy looked at the tunnel again. There was another hint that it was no ordinary tunnel. Invisible to the mortals driving by in their cars, there stood two sentinels. But not just any sentinels. These guys were dressed in a purple t-shirt, and parts of ancient Roman armors. Leg protectors, arm protectors, breast protectors, helmets like those of legionnaires, shields decorated like those of Roman soldiers, each one had a sword dangling from his side and they each held a pelum in hand, the spear of the ancient legionnaires. One of them was smaller, with black skin, and curls the color of cinnamon flooding out from beneath the helmet. Was it a girl? Looked like it. The other guy was bigger, white, and probably male, since Frank couldn't make out any bit of hair, which indicated it wasn't long enough to come out from beneath the helmet.

Behind him, a bush rustled. The sound tore Frank out of his observations. Could it be…? Yes, the smell was unmistakable. He jumped to his feet and dashed for the tunnel. Behind him, there was an angry bark, and as he looked back, he saw a hell hound, all of its three heads baring their fangs.

„Oh gods!", he yelped. „Why now, when I'm this close?!"

He ran parallel to the motorway, towards the door and the guards. Guards usually meant protection, didn't they? As he ran, he heard the two sentries shouting, however, he didn't understand the words. He didn't care either. His sole ojective now was getting to that door and through it.

Suddenly, a shadow passed over him. He came to a abrupt halt. The hell hound had jumped over him in one enormous leap. Now it crouched before him, growling dangerously.

„G… good doggy…"

Frank didn't know wether he was calming himself or the beast. With the hell hound, it definitively failed. It crouched even lower, its growl gaining on intensity. Once it was going to attack, it was going to shred Frank to tiny pieces. That much was clear. Given the form of the heads, the three jaws must pack incredible power, and the teeth were like little daggers. Strangely, through his fear, Frank managed to make calculations for battle. His mind scrambled for a solution to the problem. Somehow, Frank must get his bow. So far so good. The difficulty lay in getting the bow. As soon as Frank moved, he was certain that the hell hound would attack.

,I need a diversion.'

But how to create that diversion? It seemed easier said than done.

Suddenly, he heard the female guard shout. „Keep the door, I'm gonna go help him!"

Taking the risk of looking away from the hell hound, Frank saw the girl getting to the border of the motorway, waiting for an opening and then dashing across it. For a moment he wondered what the mortals were seeing instead of a girl, doing the suicidal thing of running across a motorway. Lupa had told him about the veil called mist, which covered all things magical for mortal eyes and let them look like mundane things. Demigods, especially those clad in parts of ancient Roman armor, definitively belonged into that cathegory. So what were the mortals seeing? A suicidal goth teen? An animal?

Before he could pursue his thoughts further, the legionnaire had reached the other end of the motorway and sprang across its fencing. Coming running towards them, she shouted: „Hey! Filthy dog! Here I am!"

The hell hound whirled around. Looking back and forth between Frank and the girl, he seemed to curl its lips into a devilish grin. And suddenly, it was as if a woman's voice was whispering in the air.

„Aaaah… look who we have here… how practical. Now I can kill two flies in one stroke. The fates must mean well for bringing you two together right now."

The female legionnaire froze. Apparently she knew that voice. Frank on the other hand was thunderstruck, his mind trying to figure out what just had happened. But then the girl regained her composure and shook her head as if to chase away a nasty fly.

„You'll never get any of us!", she yelled in defiance. „Never again, Gea!"

Gea? That name sounded familiar to Frank. He couldn't place it yet, however. That didn't matter, for there were more urgent things at hand. To his shock, the Roman charged at the hell hound. In her hand she held a long, Roman-style sword.

„Wait!", he yelled. „You can't go in like that…!"

But it was too late. The two contrahents clashed, white teeth and a golden blade flashed and in a cloud of dust they toppled to ground.

Frank stared in disbelief. Had that girl really just charged a hell-hound head on? Either she was inexperienced or she was stronger than she let on.

After a few moments, the dust settled, and Frank was hit by another shock of disbelief. The hell hound lied on the ground, its legs being chained by… were those gems? And didn't it flash golden right there?

„Hurry up!", the girl shouted. Her hands were stretched out, and the sword lay on the ground in front of her. „I can't keep him down for long!"

And Frank realised what she had done. Apparently, she had seen the bow on his back and realised he must be skilled at archer – or why else would he carry that weapon with him? She also must have realised that he needed a diversion to get enough time to get his bow ready.

Tearing himself out of the paralysis, he acted with lightningspeed. He ripped the bow from his back and fastened the string. Then he knocked an arrow and shot.

Bullseye.

The arrow hit the exact center of the left head's forehead. The beast howled in pain and rage. But Frank had already a second arrow on his string and was running around the beast. When he had a clear field, he shot and the arrow pierced the head in the middle. Only one left. He ran past the legionnaire, stood to her right and put the last arrow on his string.

Then it happened.

The pain and anger must have unlocked some last strenght in the beast, or maybe the girl's energy was used up. Whatever it was, the hell hound broke free of the gems and gold and charged at them, it's jaws snapping wildly, and two of it's head covered with blood.

Time seemed to stop. Distantly, Frank heard the other guard shout. „Hazel!" Hazel… was that the girl's name? It fit her quite well. A shame he couldn't get to know her better…

He shook his head wildly. What the hell was he doing?! And what were those thoughts?! He yanked the bow upwards, aiming straight at the hell hound's heart. It was now or never. Either the shot hit – or both he and the legionnaire were a dog's meal.

His fingers opened in a movement he barely felt, just enough to let go of the round shaft of wood. The arrow flew.

The hell hound howled and crashed to the ground as if it had hit a invisible wall. Then it turned into dust, which was carried away by the wind. Frank panted. Now that the danger was over, the rush of adrenaline was over too. His hands trembled.

„That… was a amazing shot."

Frank turned to the legionnaire. The shadows were deep beneath the helmet, but he saw her impressed expression. Eyes of an amazing gold looked up at him, glittering like two gold nuggets mixed with amber. What else he saw of her facial features were nice too. Suddenly, his cheeks felt hot.

„Uhm… th- thank you. And thank you for your help." Sheepishly, he scratched his neck.

„Let's go now." She smiled up at him, causing the heat to rise slightly. „Reyna would want to hear about this. Besides, I have to take you to her anyways, since you seem to be a new recruit sent by Lupa."

„Reyna?"

„She's one of the two Preators of Camp Jupiter, one of the two leaders." Hazel's expression became suddenly sad. „Just try not to mention the other one… Jason. He's been missing for some time now, and I fear it gets more to her than she let's on."

Frank was baffled. „Uh… okay… thanks for the heads up." As they walked towards the motorway, he stretched out his hand. „I am Frank, by the way. Frank Zhang. My actual name is Fai Zhang, but I don't like it, so, it's Frank. Pleased to meet you."

„Oh." With a expression of pleasant surprise, Hazel took it, and they gave one firm shake. „I am Hazel Levesque."

„Ah, so it really was your name. I heard your comrade shout „Hazel", so I figured it might be your name."

„And it is." Hazel chuckled, but became serious within seconds. „Frank… I need to ask you a favour. About what happened before… with the gems and all… could you try to keep it a secret? I don't want the knowledge about that ability to spread too far. Besides… about my father… I will tell you later, but know that it is not easy for me in Camp Jupiter."

It dawned on him that she must have risked discovery of her power to save his life. A deep fondness for the black girl rose in him. „I will keep it a secret for as long as you like", he said, trying with every word to convince her that he meant it. And he wanted to be her friend, so she might have it a little easier in the Camp.

Wordlessly, they crossed the motorway. As they passed the guard, Hazel said to him: „Please keep your post while I take him to Reyna. I'll send you someone immediately."

The legionnaire nodded. Then Hazel turned to the door and opened it. With a glance backwards at Frank, she entered the tunnel. He followed her, having the strange feeling as if he had come home. That didn't faze him, however. Walking behind Hazel, he knew that there was a new life waiting for him at the other end of the tunnel.

When they finally came out of it, Frank had first to stand and take in the landscape. He had to struggle not to gape. Such a place existed in America without anyone knowing?

„Welcome to Camp Jupiter", Hazel said.

And the circle began to close.


End file.
